Archbishop Visits Holy Cross to Address Care of Migrants and Refugees

WORCESTER, Mass. – Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, will give a free public lecture at the College of the Holy Cross on Monday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Rehm Library. The lecture, sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, is part of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity.

Archbishop Marchetto will speak on the church's understanding of Christian responsibility for migrants, refugees, and itinerant people. Massachusetts has resettled more than 10,000 refugees between 2000 and 2006. Across the Commonwealth, immigrants comprise 14 percent of the state's population and 17 percent of its workforce. Marchetto will address the Catholic community’s important role in offering hospitality to all, both domestic or international, mobile persons.

Marchetto takes special interest in assuring that Catholic colleges and universities are a welcoming place for international students and migrants of all faiths.

During his visit, Marchetto will also speak to students in the class “Catholic Thought and Social Action.”

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, visit www.holycross.edu/crec. About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College's commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.